Back to Wonderland
by EchoedMelodies
Summary: Inspired by Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland; Alice Lester, the ordinary teenager that deals with pending essays for school. Just one stormy day, the door to Wonderland was opened for those who belong there, for Alice. These are the new adventures of Alice in Wonderland.


_It was a lovely Thursday afternoon._

Clouds were rolling in the sky and the air was cool.

Squeaking on the mossy pavement was Alice Lester. She was returning back from school, with her school bag hanging from one shoulder, the wind playing with her violet hair making it frizzy.

She stomped around the red buildings that infested this particular area in Liverpool. Block next to block, all made from scarlet bricks, towered above Alice. She was walking to the beat of the music that was coming from her iPod. Finally, she arrived at the entrance of her block of flats where she lived with her parents and her tabby cat. She took the stairs even though she lives on the ninth floor. Elevators gave her an odd feeling.

When she opened the flat door she could hear laughter in the kitchen. It was her mother and her club of _White Tulip Apartments _women who gather in the Lester's kitchen to have tea while gossiping pretty much about anyone. Alice walked past the kitchen door hoping they would not notice her. Alas, her mother spotted her and called her in.

"Alice, dear!"

Alice pulled her hood up and started walking backwards to the kitchen door. Meanwhile an excuse was forming on her tongue.

"Hi mum,"

"Alice sweetheart, have a cup of tea with us," Mrs Lester said and took a sip from her cup. "And take off that hood when you are inside."

"That's because I just came from outside," Alice replied. "You know it is about to rain. And I cannot stay today. I have a lot of assignments to finish. I'd like to get them done."

Her mother just sighed and gave her the do-whatever-you'd-like scowl so Alice walked back to her room. She was not in the mood to be chatty. She never was in fact.

She parted open the violet curtains which only let grey light inside the room. The clouds outside has assembled together, still deciding whether to rain or not, but the wind had already taken a start off, blowing hard between the trees that were planted in the streets. Alice plopped down on her bed. It seemed like some storm was coming up. That is unusual for this time of year. The grey light, the wind blowing and now the soft sound of raindrops that trickled from the roof ledge down to her window… it all made Alice feel hazy.

She blinked twice.

Even, today was a busy one at school. She closed her eyes and left the tiredness of the day overpower her. Alice fell into a dreamless sleep.

_Alice woke up startled by a lightning bolt._

The room was dark so she fumbled to find the switch of her bedside lamp. With a _click, _she switched in on.

The clock marked that time was somewhere after half past ten. That was not good news. She spent the whole evening asleep and she still had lots of assignments to finish. She could not waste time, not with her A-Levels coming up. Alice got up and went to look out from her window. Everything in the street was wet and still. She turned on the lamp of her study desk and emptied her school bag on it. Then she went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

The house was eerily quiet. Her father was abroad on business and her mother is an early sleeper. Her cat, Gizmo, was probably stuck in an alleyway afraid to get his paws wet. She tried to keep quite while making her tea, as not to wake her mother, and went back to her room. When she saw the pile of textbooks on her desk, a heavy sigh rushed from her lips. 'It's no use to do all of this stuff tonight. Tomorrow, I'll pretend I'm sick or something,' she thought to herself.

So she just sat on her bed slowly sipping her hot tea. She watched the dark clouds from her window dissolve into nothing as they cleared a way for the stars to shine bright against the dark sky.

_Somewhere distant,_ someone was calling her.

"Alice? ...Alice!" the voice said. "We are waiting for you," the voice echoed.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something jumped on top of her and startled her. When Alice identified the source she relaxed a bit. Still damp from last night, Gizmo was looking at her with huge yellow eyes.

"What do you want?" she grumbled as she made a grip for her mobile phone. It was still 05:04 am.

Last night, after she drank her tea, she slept fully dressed in her day clothes. With both lamps still switched on, she could shake a little the feeling of drowsiness. She could hear the clattering of plates in the kitchen. Her mother must be awake. Yet, she pressed her face to the pillow to cut out the light and sleep for a few more minutes.


End file.
